News & Information
Austin American-Statesman
Austin Chronicle - our independent alt-weekly. Great restaurant listings
Texas Monthly - The National Magazine of Texas also has local restaurant listings
Local TV
KEYE - CBS affiliate
KLRU - PBS affiliate
KTBC - Fox affiliate
KVUE - ABC affiliate - excellent weather section
KXAN - NBC affiliate - excellent weather section
YNN Austin - Time Warner Cable 24-hour local news
The Airport & Transportation
Austin Bergstrom International Airport. The airport code is AUS
Capital Metro - Our (mostly) bus transit system. Note the route 100 Airport Flyer. CapMetro now has an app on the iTunes & Google Play stores.
American Yellow Cab - 512.452.9999 - Computer dispatched
Visiting
Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau
Austin Segway Tour
Travel Texas Austin page - Official State of Texas Tourism site
Now Playing in Austin
Music
KMFA-FM, Classical music for Austin (89.5)
KUT-FM, NPR affiliate (90.5)
KUTX-FM, KUT's sister music station; lots of local music
Visitor Favorites
Texas State Capitol - Now with metal detectors, unless you have a concealed weapon permit
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum - Houses Austin's IMAX Theater
Austin Museum of Art
Central Market - 40th @Lamar
Whole Foods Market - The home store, 6th @Lamar
University Co-op - Texas Longhorn gear
Book People - Large independent bookstore, 6th @LamarThe new Austin City Limits Moody Theater at the W Hotel Austin. More than simply a venue for the long-running PBS music program, the ACL Live Moody Theater is a great place to see and hear the best musicians touring Austin. 200 Lavaca @ 2nd Street, downtown)
At UT
The University of Texas at Austin - Once dubbed 40 Acres, it's much larger now.
UT School of Law
LBJ Presidential Library & Museum (near the law school)
Harry Ransom Center - A gem. Collection includes first photograph, Isaac Singer collection and much, much more. Heavy collection of 20th Century writers
Blanton Museum of Art - MLK @ Congress Avenue; across from Bullock Museum
Festivals
South By SouthWest Festival - March - Interactive, Film, Music components
Austin City Limits Music Festival - September - Zilker Park
Texas Book Festival - November - Taking over the Capitol for the good
Bats
The Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge is home to the world's largest urban bat colony. At sundown they fly off to eat
Nightwings - Dale Whistler's statue is at the south end of the bridge at Congress Avenue and Barton Springs RoadAustin Moon Towers - About half of the original towers remain, mostly in central Austin. Dating back to the 1890's, the Moon Towers were an early form of electric street lighting. The New York Times has an excellent introduction to the towers, "Austin’s Moon Towers, Beyond ‘Dazed and Confused’."
Public WiFi
Sections of Downtown & East Austin have City of Austin WiFi coverage
A number of businesses have WiFi access through a nonprofit entity
Eating
Austin has many fine restaurants. Below are two from our three major local food groups, Barbeque, Tex-Mex, and Texas road house/home cooking.
Guero's - Tex-Mex. 1412 South Congress Ave. (where-oss)
South of river in trendy SoCo (South Congress) area
Hoover's - Texas/Soul. 2002 Manor (may-ner) Road
East of UT campus
Iron Works Barbeque - BBQ. 100 Red River
Downtown - convention center
Ruby's BBQ - BBQ & Cajun. 529 W. 29th St. @Guadalupe
North of campus.
Threadgill's - Texas. 301 W. Riverside Dr. A museum to the legendary music venue, the Armadillo World Headquarters
South of river
A few extras:
Angie's - Family-owned Tex Mex. Excellent Tex-Mex breakfast. Hand made corn tortillas.
East Austin
1307 E. 7th Street
Bess Bistro - new bistro - owned by Sandra Bullock
Downtown
500 W. 6th Street
Chez Nous - Austin's long-time favorite small bistro
Downtown
510 Neches
El Azteca - Old-line, family-owned Tex-Mex w/ vegetarian selections .
East Austin
2600 E. 7th Street
Jo's - Coffee on South Congress; much more on 2nd Street.
242 West 2nd Street
The 2nd Street location has wonderful breakfast and lunch
Lambert's - BBQ
401 W. 2nd. Hip, BBQ in a historic building. Music upstairs
Ranch 616 - An homage to the South Texas Icehouse ... with an excellent chef and Bob Wade art
Downtown
616 Nueces
For sushi fanatics there is the renowned:
Uchi on S. Lamar and the new northern outpost, Uchiko on N. Lamar, near Central Market.
Kosher
In Northwest Austin, the HEB (the area's dominent grocery store) has a kosher store and kosher deli. It features excellent sandwiches, soups, and other kosher dishes. It's at 7025 Village Center Drive, near Far West and MoPac. It's also close to the JCAA. It's approximately 6 miles north of downtown. Visitors can get there via Capital Metro's 19 Bull Creek bus , the 320 St. John's or the UT FW Shuttle (Far West.)
An Overview of Austin
Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) is approximately 8 miles southeast of
downtown Austin. Cabs are readily available. The 100 Airport Flyer departs every 30 minutes with limited stops in East Austin, Downtown, the Capitol complex, and UT. CapMetro has a new fare schedule and several types of different bus service. The $3.00 premium, 24 hour pass is likely your best buy. are also available at the Cap Metro Transit Store at 209 West 9th (at Lavaca.)
Austin is divided by the Colorado River. The dammed section in the downtown area was recently renamed Lady Bird Johnson Lake; it was formerly known as Town Lake and many still call it that. There is an extensive hike & bike jogging trail on both sides of the lake through the entire downtown area.
South of the river is South Austin. South Congress Avenue is called SoCo, a trendy area beginning approximately half a mile south of the lake. South of the river, numbered streets run north-south.
Downtown. The Central Business District runs from Cesar Chavez (formerly First Street) north to 11th Street. North of the river, numbered streets run east-west.
Capitol Complex. The State Capitol is at 11th Street and Congress Avenue.
To the north, as far as MLK Blvd. (formerly 19th Street) is the Capitol Complex, a cluster of state buildings.
The University of Texas. UT is bordered on the south by MLK Blvd. and on the north by Dean Keeton (formerly 26th Street.) The western boundary is Guadalupe (aka, the Drag.) Most of the campus is west of IH-35, though some UT buildings do bridge the Interstate and are east of IH-35.
Some items from the New York Times:
"Beyond Brisket and Burritos in Austin, Tex.," by Robert Draper, December 31, 2014.
"Eclectic East Austin," by Bonnie Tsui, January 31, 2014.
FRUGAL TRAVELER; Tunes and Tacos: $100 Weekend in Austin - February 5, 2012
A profile of Liz Lambert, owner of the San Jose Hotel - May 23, 2010
The San Jose is in a great location, and it's a temple of minimalism. Street noise is definitely audible in soom rooms, however. Half a block off Congress is her newer, wonderful Hotel St. Cecilia. Her brother Louis owns Lambert's BBQ.Tacos in the Morning? That’s the Routine in Austin - March 9, 2010
John Edge missed Taco Shack, a homegrown favorite with several locations.36 Hours: Austin, TX - November 29, 2009
Welcoming Spring in Texas Tones - Texas Wildflowers - April 29, 2010
